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In the years that Ash has been roaming the world of Pokemon, it’s been a serious struggle to get them to follow orders.
The anime usually tries to find ways to incorporate gameplay mechanics into their episodes. As is the tradition in the games, team members that are high level won’t listen to their trainer unless they’ve got the right amount of Gym badges.
It seems that regardless of how many Gym leaders he defeats, Ash is constantly struggling to get his team to be on the same page.
Ash seriously struggles to get his Pokemon to listen sometimes
5) Lycanroc ignores Ash against Gladion
Lycanroc is usually an obedient team member, but it does not want anything to happen to its coat. Ash found this out the hard way when he went up against Gladion and his Type: Null, who tosses Lycanroc into a small pond.
Since it ends up getting dirty, Lycanroc literally goes beast mode and starts recklessly lunging at Type: Null with total disregard for Ash.
4) Haunter against Sabrina
During his time in Kanto, Ash rarely ever wins a Gym badge from actual victory in battle. The best example of this is his showdown against Sabrina, where Ash tried to use Haunter because of its type advantage, but Haunter just decided he didn’t feel like it.
Pikachu is then used to defend Ash against Sabrina’s Kadabra, who quickly gets the upper hand. Haunter later appears, though, just to literally make Sabrina laugh. This, in turn, made Kadabra laugh through their telepathic link, and it won Ash the Marsh Badge.
3) Charizard versus Blaine
In this battle, Charizard proves that every Pokemon has a little pride in them. Once Charmeleon evolves, it practically stops listening to Ash altogether. When Blaine sent out its Magmar, though, Charizard went full throttle just to prove that it was the better Fire-type.
Charizard defeats Magmar, but then Blaine sends out Rhydon for its massive type advantage. In response, Charizard takes a nap in the corner of the room, which, strategically speaking, is optimal since it means not getting hit with a 4x super effective Rock Slide.
2) Pikachu doing literally anything
Every fan of the anime knows that Pikachu and Ash are the best of friends nowadays. Some forget, though, that it was initially very tough for Ash to form that bond with Pikachu.
This is shown in the first episode, where Pikachu didn’t want to do anything for Ash; that included everything from battling to walking. For part of the episode, Ash literally had to drag Pikachu with a rope. It took a Spearow attack for Ash to earn Pikachu’s respect.
1) Charizard versus Ritchie
Apparently, Charizard catching up on sleep during important fights is a running trend. In the fifth round of the Indigo League, Ash had to go up against Ritchie and his Pikachu.
When Ritchy’s Pikachu (cleverly named Sparky) was brought out, though, Charizard just lay down and took a nap in the middle of the battle.
Note: This article reflects the author’s views.
